Colorado searchers hope cellphone pings can lead to father-son hikers

The search for a Twin Cities father and son presumed missing during a hiking trip in the Colorado mountains turned up fruitless Tuesday, despite better weather and a more narrowly defined search area.

Searchers pinned hopes of finding hikers Damian McManus, 51, and Evan McManus, 18, of St. Louis Park on improved weather and information gleaned from their last cellphone pings.

Cellphone data gave search teams a crude idea of where to search, concentrating efforts Tuesday south of the Echo Lake campground in the Arapaho National Forest, two hours west of Denver, according to Howard Paul of the Alpine Rescue Team.

Searchers were being ferried into the area, at 10,600 feet of elevation and above, on Sno-Cats and snowmobiles.

But though the cellphone data gave searchers an approximate starting point, they still don't know in which direction the pair might have hiked.

Efforts Monday were hampered by on-and-off snow squalls throughout the day and winds in excess of 25 mph, according to the Clear Creek County sheriff's office. Wind chills dipped below zero Monday in the widespread search area.

The McManuses have not been heard from since last Wednesday. Search efforts began Sunday, and Damian McManus' car was found in a parking lot near Echo Lake.

A family spokeswoman said the McManuses were on a spring break trip and were to return to the Twin Cities during the weekend.

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They were discovered missing when Damian McManus' wife, Katherine, returned to the Twin Cities from a separate spring break trip to Mexico with her daughter, Lauren, who is Evan McManus' twin sister.

The mother and daughter hadn't heard from the father and son but thought it was because they were in the rugged Rocky Mountains and had no cellphone service, according to spokeswoman Andrea Bouzrara.